William and Mary, Old Dominion renew local men's basketball rivalry

Without overwhelming raw talent, William and Mary and Old Dominion belong to the vast majority of college basketball teams for which work rate and detail determine success.

When the local rivals renew their series at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a New Year’s Day special at Kaplan Arena, the team that most closely follows orders and executes more crisply is likely to win.

“I think this is a team that, when it will defend consistently and will do the little things consistently, can be pretty good,” Tribe coach Tony Shaver said. “It’s a team that has to learn to pay attention to details and to treat every possession like it’s the only possession of the game. We’re not there with this team, and I think it’s got to be something that we continue to develop.”

The Tribe (6-5) comes off a burn-the-video 82-45 loss to West Virginia on Sunday in Charleston, W.Va., the program’s most lopsided setback since a 94-56 thumping at Missouri in December 2011.

After a promising start, W&M quickly fell behind by 15 to the physical Mountaineers, whose defense, toughness and rebounding overwhelmed the Tribe the remainder of the game.

“I wasn’t pleased with our effort,” Shaver said. “I think this team sometimes, how well we score the ball dictates how well we play defensively. We’ve got to reverse that. We’ve got to get it to the point where our defense is always there. Some days you shoot it well, some days you don’t. I think we got down on ourselves a little bit, and it really snowballed.”

Marcus Thornton’s streak of 42 consecutive games in double figures came to an end, but he continues to lead the Tribe in scoring (18.4 points per game) and assists (28).

The good news is that William and Mary is close to fielding the team that Shaver thought he’d have in preseason. Freshman guard Mike Schlotman continues to be plagued by a hamstring injury, but senior guard Brandon Britt is working his way back from suspension and injury, while freshman wing Daniel Dixon also recovers from injury.

Shaver hopes that the added depth and versatility translate to greater focus and energy on the defensive end. The Tribe has at least four capable perimeter shooters to encircle senior post man Tim Rusthoven (13.1 ppg, 5.5 rebounds per game), but only by playing consistent defense can it hope to reach the upper division of the Colonial Athletic Association.

ODU’s margin for error is even thinner as the Monarchs (5-8) seek to end a 1-7 slide.Because of spotty perimeter shooting and half-court execution, the Monarchs are best in transition. But since they’re undersized, group rebounding is paramount, which often limits classic transition and fast breaks.

The Monarchs’ undersized post players, Richard Ross and Denzell Taylor, are mobile and active and aren’t tethered to the basket, which creates driving lanes for the guards and wings. But ODU is shooting just 42 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range.

ODU is outscored by only one point per game, on average, but commits two more turnovers per game than its opponents and is a dismal 346th out of 351 Division I teams in free-throw shooting (.584).

Peninsula natives Aaron Bacote (17.8 ppg) and Dimitri Batten (11.7 ppg) are the leading scorers, but they and guard Keenan Palmore — the three primary ballhandlers — all have more turnovers than assists. Bacote shoots a very good 83.5 percent from the free-throw line, but nobody else is better than 55.6 percent.

The Tribe and ODU were conference rivals for 21 years before the Monarchs split for Conference USA this season. W&M swept the Monarchs last season for the first time since 1998 and ended a streak in which ODU had won 18 of the previous 20 meetings.

“It’s a rivalry we would like to keep alive,” Shaver said. “Whether we play every year or not, I don’t know, but we would like to continue to play. … Maybe New Year’s Day isn’t the best time to make a judgment, but we’ll see from the crowd and the intensity of the game, to see whether it holds that rivalry-game feeling. I think it will.”Fairbank can be reached by phone at 757-247-4637.